PGA Championship: 34 random thoughts and takeaways from Quail Hollow

Scottie Scheffler. Three-time major champion. 

For a fleeting hour or so on Sunday evening, that was an inevitability which felt surprisingly in doubt.

It is testament to both the world No.1’s genius and mental fortitude, though, that his run towards the Wanamaker Trophy ultimately turned into a procession.

So while it couldn’t quite deliver for drama, Quail Hollow got its worthy champion in the end.

Here’s a collection of random thoughts from a strange – and at times bewildering – week in Charlotte.

_

1. Scottie Scheffler is relentless. He barely hit a good shot during that front nine on Sunday. Everything was going left. Yet he was still unflappable even when caught by Jon Rahm on the ninth. Nothing fazes him. He has this ridiculous habit of turning what should be an interesting finish into a victory lap. What a competitor.

2. Scheffler’s tournament-clinching final five hole-stretch on Saturday evening was devastating. As good as you’ll ever see in a major. He’s maybe the only guy in the field who could have pulled off that tee shot on the driveable 14.

3. After Rory McIlroy reached immortality at Augusta, the obvious question was who was going to be next to join the career grand slam club. Most would have edged their bets with Jordan Spieth (needing one), or Xander Schauffele (needing two.) Who’d bet against Scheffler now?

4. In a few years (or months?) time, we’ll probably refer to this week as the third leg of Scheffler’s ‘Golden Slam.’ Olympic gold medals are only going to become important as more guys pick them up.

5. We should all have listened to Brandel Chamblee at the start of the week: “If [Scheffler] didn’t get run over by a water buffalo from his car to the golf shop, I don’t know how they’re going to stop him.” It was, lest we forget, a few hours in a jail cell that derailed him in this event last time around.

6. The global water buffalo population is over 200 million. Unfortunately for the other 155 guys in the field, they’re yet to brave it in North Carolina. At least Rahm and DeChambeau gave it their best shot, though.

• Scottie Scheffler admits his driver also failed test at PGA Championship

• 9 things Scottie Scheffler gets for winning the PGA Championship

7. I can’t wait to go full Scheffler after my next mud ball: “You spend your whole life trying to learn how to control a golf ball and due to a rules decision all of a sudden you have absolutely no control over where that golf ball goes.” Imagine the reaction in the clubhouse.

8. It was amusing that the PGA of America decided as early as Wednesday that it wouldn’t be a case of “lift, clean and place” but rather, “get on with it” on Thursday. While I 100% understand player frustration at a major being left to chance with no preferred lies on some wet fairways, it spiced up a dull Thursday and it was fun to see the carnage unfold. This is a game of variables, after all.

9. What a grim finish that was for Rahm. You can’t say he didn’t go for it at full tilt on Sunday, and at least he’s dispelled some myths about any competitive decline. He’ll be back, no doubt, and it would be no shock to see him win at Oakmont.

10. Not that there was any serious danger of Rahm not being in New York, but it was a boon for Luke Donald to see him back in the heat of battle in an intense environment again before Bethpage.

11. Talking of which, has Alex Noren just entered the chat? A poor Sunday, yes, but the Swede had played four rounds of golf in seven months before this. A rousing return.

12. If Bryson DeChambeau had his irons dialled in, he’d have a much higher return from the five of the last six majors he’s contended in. He’s still complete box office in these big time events, though.

13. Make the PGA Championship great again. Okay, maybe it never was. But it’s still a spare part in May. An unsatisfactory sandwich filler. Move it back to August – ‘Glory’s Last Shot’ and all – and give this event its only real identity back.

14. Better still, take it overseas. Rory McIlroy’s long-awaited return to Royal Melbourne in December will be another (unnecessary) reminder that major-worthy layouts exist outside of the United States.

15. The social media discourse surrounding Quail Hollow was just silly.

16. Two things can be true. Quail Hollow is a decent golf course and, in the ‘Green Mile’, has one of the most fun and demanding finishing stretches in the game. But it also doesn’t need to host a major championship. Part of the fun of a major is seeing how the world’s best tackle a completely new challenge. This wasn’t it.

• PGA Championship: 34 random thoughts & takeaways from Quail Hollow

17. That being said, Hunter Mahan scolding both Tom Fazio and the Kardashians in the same sentence will take some beating for Quote of the Year: In case you somehow missed it: “I guess I would say Quail Hollow is like a Kardashian. It’s very modern, beautiful and well-kept. But it lacks a soul or character.”

18. How low-key were those first two days, though? Post-Masters hangover and poor leaderboard aside, it didn’t even have the feel of a Signature Event, never mind a major tournament.

19. Thinking about it, though, this had some similarities Valhalla last year. An underwhelming start at a derided venue that threatened to deliver a grandstand finish. Unfortunately this one couldn’t.

20. The whole Rory McIlroy driver saga was utterly bizarre.

21. It took nearly 24 hours for the PGA of America to confirm reports that McIlroy’s QI10 had been randomly tested and was non-conforming. The problem here is that the governing bodies are so obscure and discreet on these matters, the nonsense that McIlroy might be in the wrong is allowed to brew on social media. What these people don’t realise, of course, is that it might only take McIlroy one swing of the driver to make it go from legal to illegal. It’s wear and tear. This is not a rare phenomenon, it just rarely reaches the public domain.

22. The PGA of America’s Kerry Haigh excused their lack of transparency by saying: “To publicly identify players whose club did not conform can lead to that player being questioned unnecessarily.” Surely this just has the opposite effect, though? It fuels rumours when it’s leaked that a big time player like McIlroy has turned up at a major with a non-conforming club. If they told us more often, it would become a non-event and let’s be honest, that’s all this ever was.

23. Why are we only testing a third – and not all – of the drivers in the field? At least ten of the drivers were non compliant out of 50. By the simple law of averages, a good handful of non-conforming drivers will have made it through to the weekend. Make it make sense.

24. Let’s not dress it up. McIlroy’s decision to skip media not once, but after all four rounds was bizarre and out of character. On his first major since completing the grand slam, too. No, it’s not obligatory and no, he was never in contention, but it wasn’t a great look.

25. Hindsight is great and all, but there were people who seriously thought a calendar-year grand slam was possible. Sir Nick Faldo’s summary made sense on Thursday: “I think he’s going to go through a little transition time where it will be quite tough to get his feet back on the ground and stop thinking of what an incredible feat he’s done.”

26. Don’t be mistaken, though. However much house money you’re playing with, this missed opportunity on his dream major venue will have had McIlroy riled.

• Sky Sports commentator calls for PGA Championship to leave America

• Sergio Garcia claims he would REFUSE Ryder Cup pick

27. Arise Jim Furyk. The US team’s de facto Ryder Cup captain in New York. If Keegan Bradley keeps playing like this, he’ll make his own team. I’ll let you decide who that’s good news for.

28. Cam Smith’s downward spiral really has been quite something. He arrived here with a decent run in LIV events, but make that three MCs in a row in the majors. He looks happier than ever with his current arrangement, but his scorecards tell a wildly different story.

29. Speaking of slides towards oblivion, how about Dustin Johnson? He’s now missed the cut in five of his last ten major starts. He hasn’t recorded a top ten in one of these since 2023, either. The air of a man who’d rather be anywhere else.

30. Fair play, though. At least Johnson beat half of the 20 club pros in the field, including the main man Michael Block. You’re still thinking about the bad news, aren’t you?

31. Okay, Blockie really doesn’t need a sponsor’s invite to Colonial next week. He probably shouldn’t have said he underperformed because he didn’t have a big crowd following him either. Nonsense, of course. But there’s no need to absolutely hammer him for it. It’s all harmless fun, really.

32. We’re halfway through the major season. Blink and you’ll miss it.

33. Scottie Scheffler could still win the career grand slam this year.

34. Never mind. That’s a ridiculous suggestion… isn’t it?

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.